Product QR Code Labels
YellowPOS can print a QR code for any product that opens that product's page on your online store. A customer standing in front of your shelf points their phone at the sticker and lands on the photos, the full description, the variants, the price, and an Add to cart button. You pick the product, set your label size, and print — the code is built from your store's address, so there is nothing to configure and nothing to keep in sync.
Where to find it
Open Products, click the Label Generator button in the top bar, and choose QR Code Generator. The barcode generator sits in the same menu — they are two sides of the same job, which we come back to below.
What the code actually contains
A QR code is just a picture of a piece of text. The text YellowPOS puts inside is the web address of that product on your storefront — something like:
yellow-pos.com/your-business/product/42
That matters more than it sounds. Because the sticker holds a link rather than a copy of the product's details, it never goes out of date. Change the price, add photos, write a better description, add a new colour variant — every sticker you have already printed and stuck on a shelf immediately shows the new version. You are printing a pointer, not a snapshot.
If you have connected your own domain, the code uses your domain, so what your customer sees in their browser is your brand rather than ours.
QR code or barcode — which one do I want?
The short answer: a barcode is for your staff, a QR code is for your customer. They solve different problems and most shops end up using both.
| Barcode | QR code | |
|---|---|---|
| Who scans it | Your cashier | Your customer |
| With what | A barcode scanner at the till | Their own phone camera |
| What it holds | A number that identifies the product | A link to the product's page |
| What happens | The item is added to the sale | The product page opens on their phone |
| Saved on the product | Yes — the number has to be recognised later | No — it is rebuilt from the product's address |
A shelf label with both on it covers the whole shop floor: staff scan the barcode to ring it up, customers scan the QR code to read about it.
Setting up your label
The generator has a small number of settings and they all do what they say:
- Product — the one the code will point at.
- Label size — the real dimensions of the sticker you are printing on, in inches, millimetres, or centimetres. Measure the sticker; do not guess.
- QR code size — how large the code is drawn, in pixels. It scales down to fit the label, so this is really about how much room the code gets versus the text.
- Quantity of labels — how many copies of the same sticker to print.
- Show name — prints the product name centred under the code. On by default.
- Show price — prints the price under the name. Off by default, because a printed price is the one thing on the label that can go stale.
- Rotate 180° — for label printers that feed upside-down.
Click Generate Labels to see them, then Print Labels when you are happy.
How big should the code be?
The usual rule is that a QR code should be roughly one tenth of the distance it will be scanned from. Some practical sizes:
- Shelf edge or product sticker, scanned at arm's length — 2 cm square is comfortable.
- Table tent or counter card, scanned from half a metre — 5 cm.
- Window or wall poster, scanned from three metres — 30 cm.
Bigger is safer than smaller. A code that is slightly too large is merely ugly; one that is too small does not scan, and you find out after you have printed the batch. Print one and try it with your own phone before committing to a roll.
Printing without blank pages
Each label prints as its own page, which is what a thermal label printer expects — one page, one sticker. Two settings decide whether that goes smoothly:
- Paper size must match your label, set in your printer's driver and in the browser's print dialog. A printer told it is feeding A4 will eject a whole A4 page per sticker.
- Margins: None. If you leave the dialog on "Minimum", the printer reserves a margin, the printable area shrinks, and your label no longer fits the page it was sized for.
Also switch Headers and footers off, or every sticker gets the date and a page number printed across it. The Printer Help button on the generator page has step-by-step settings for Xprinter, DYMO, Zebra, Brother, and ordinary office printers.
The product must be public
A QR code leads to a page on your storefront, and hidden products have no storefront page — so a code for a hidden product leads nowhere. YellowPOS shows a warning on the generator screen the moment you select a product that is not public, so you catch it before printing rather than after a customer scans a dead sticker.
The same applies to your store as a whole: if your online store is switched off in settings, none of the product pages are reachable. Turn the store on, or the codes have nothing to open.
What to do with them
A few things Lebanese shops actually use these for:
- Shelf edges. The shelf can only hold a name and a price. The QR code holds everything else — the full description, every photo, the size chart, the ingredients.
- Products that are hard to explain. Anything with specifications, materials, or instructions that will not fit on the packaging.
- Window displays after hours. Someone walks past at 11pm, scans the sticker on the glass, and orders from the pavement.
- Wholesale and trade samples. Put a code on the sample you hand a buyer so they can reorder without hunting for you.
- Delivery boxes. A code on the box makes reordering the same item a two-second job.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the QR code lead?
To that product's page on your own online store — the address looks like yellow-pos.com/your-business/product/42. It is the same page a customer reaches by browsing your shop, with the photos, the description, the variants, the price, and the Add to cart button.
What is the difference between the QR code generator and the barcode generator?
A barcode is for you; a QR code is for your customer. The barcode generator creates a number your cashier scans at the POS to ring the item up. The QR code generator creates a link a shopper scans with their phone camera to open the product page. Both live under Products → Label Generator, and a product can carry both labels at once.
Do I need to save the QR code anywhere?
No. A barcode has to be saved against the product because it is an arbitrary number the POS must recognise later. A QR code is just your product's web address, so YellowPOS builds it fresh every time. Nothing is stored, and the code never goes stale as long as the product exists.
Does the QR code still work if I change the product's name or price?
Yes. The code points at the product, not at a copy of its details. Change the price, swap the photo, edit the description, add a variant — the printed sticker keeps working and shows the new information. You only need to reprint if you also printed the price on the label and the price changed.
What happens if the product is hidden from my store?
The QR code will lead to a "not found" page, because hidden products have no public page. YellowPOS warns you on the generator screen when you pick a product that is not public, so you find out before you print a hundred stickers. Make the product public and the same code starts working.
Which phones can scan it?
Any phone made in roughly the last eight years. iPhones and Android phones read QR codes with the built-in camera app — the customer points, a link appears, they tap it. No app to download, which is exactly why QR menus took off in the first place.
What size should I print the QR code?
As a rule of thumb a QR code needs to be about one tenth of the distance it is scanned from. For a shelf label someone scans at arm's length, 2 cm square is plenty. For a poster read from three metres away, aim for 30 cm. The generator lets you set the code size in pixels and the label size in inches, millimetres, or centimetres.
Can I print several different products at once?
The generator prints one product at a time, in whatever quantity you set. For a whole catalogue, generate and print each product in turn — the settings stay put between products, so it is one dropdown change and one click each.